I wanted to give a sneak peek of ONE point from each section of our upcoming “In’s and Out’s of Calorie Counting” we will be hosting at KDR in Lebanon, NH (old middle school building, basement level) on Tuesday the 12th at 6:30 PM.

There are 6 categories I am going to talk about:

Calories

Hormones

Carbs

Fat

Protein

Calorie counting

Each topic has 5 (ish) points I want to make sure that everyone understands. Why 5? Because of all the things in the health field, calories are the least understood and yet the most talked about. This will be an “intro” to calories with the goal (depending on how I feel with the whole cancer thing) of doing a series of talks that branch off.

My time is precious and so is this information so let’s get to the peek!

Calories are measured in a vacuum, you are not a vacuum.

Nutrition scientists measure the number of calories in food by actually burning the food in a bomb calorimeter, which is a box with two chambers, one inside the other. The researchers weigh a sample of the food, put the sample on a dish, and put the dish into the inner chamber of the calorimeter.

They fill the inner chamber with oxygen and then seal it so the oxygen can’t escape. The outer chamber is filled with a measured amount of cold water, and the oxygen in the first chamber (inside the chamber with the water) is ignited with an electric spark. When the food burns, an observer records the rise in the temperature of the water in the outer chamber. If the temperature of the water goes up 1 degree per kilogram, the food has 1 calorie; 2 degrees, 2 calories; and 235 degrees, 235 calories — or one 8-ounce chocolate malt!

You are not a bomb chamber.

You do not combust food, you break down food.

They use one chemical reaction performed in a vacuum to predict another chemical reaction performed in NOT a vacuum.

We got some problems here.

Hormones are dependent on calories, but calories do not determine hormones.

Your body will produce hormones in varying amounts dependent on a whole host of factors, from age to caloric intake. In the simplest sense – the best way to tell your body you are in a survival situation of life or death is to reduce your intake. You can have the softest life in the world and be the richest person, but if your calorie intake is low your hormone production will not be ideal.

That’s not to say that calories DICTATE HORMONE PRODUCTION, they don’t. But if you’re sending your body the signal that you are slowly dying (even though you’re not), your body is going to accommodate by ramping down hormone production. Our hormones dictate every function in our body. Every one.

All of them.

If hormone production is down, or elevated, or not ideal – then YOU ARE NOT FUNCTIONING TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY. This is strongly influenced by calories.

Carbs. Oh carbs. The bastard children of the fitness field.

A calorie is a unit of energy – and carbs are rocket fuel.

NOT A ROCKET? THEN YOU DON’T GET TO EAT A LOT OF CARBS! Carb intake is almost exclusively dictated by usage.

‘Nuff said.

You want more? Come to the lecture.

But, if you are a rocket, then you get to enjoy the foods you don’t think you should eat (in part).

ALL HORMONES ARE MADE FROM FAT

If hormones are dictated by calorie intake, and hormones determine how we behave and interact with the outside world (don’t believe me? Ever been hANGRY? That’s a combination of hunger and angry. Both are emotions, both are caused by specific hormones that are released because of an absence of energy, i.e. calories.), then we need to make sure we have enough build blocks to build those all important hormones!

That’s where fat comes in. ALL hormones are produced with some amount of building materials that can only be found in fat.

Here’s a bonus tip too – your diet should have fats that are liquid at room temp (like olive oil and coconut oil) and solid at room temp (like butter and avocado).

PROTEIN – YOU DON’T EAT ENOUGH.

THE AVERAGE PERSON NEEDS .6-.8 GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER KG OF BW. That’s average.

If you exercise, you are not average, as less then 15% of the population partakes in strenuous activity. So, that means you need more protein, in the realm of 2.2 grams per kg of bw, or about 1 gram per lb.

Why? Oh no. I am not going to spoil it! Come to the lecture! I will tell you that in the 15 years I have helped people with weight loss, increasing protein intake ALWAYS yields favorable results.

WHEN COUNTING CALORIES – WEIGH EVERYTHING

I love peanut butter. But, when I am counting my calories, I don’t eat it. For two reasons:

No one (ok very few) people actually eat a tablespoon of peanut butter. There is always a little bit more, or some left on the spoon.

If you are tracking your calories, a little bit here or a little bit there can add up to a 20% surplus. That’s the difference between losing a few pounds in a month and not.

Weigh everything. Don’t measure. Don’t use TB, cups, your palm, etc. because those are inexact ways of measuring things and you are using exact numbers (in theory).

If it is a liquid you can use a liquid measuring option.

That’s it! That’s all you get! Come to the lecture to hear more!

Check out our upcoming Drop Two Sizes in 8 weeks program! Guaranteed results AND we will tell you exactly how many calories to eat!

Hi, my name is Ben. I am a cancer survivor, blogger, educator and coach. It’s my passion to educate people on health and fitness. The current state of the field is unacceptable to me – overly complicated with too much conflicting information. It’s my goal to help people be as healthy as possible while spending the least amount of time working on it. Work smarter, not harder!

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Having been involved in the fitness industry for over 15 years, we became increasingly frustrated at the poor standards and lack of good customer service in our industry. Frankly we were sick and tired of gyms where sales numbers were more important than member results... read more